Weight of the World
by KukkiaKipu
Summary: Sequel to Beauty From Pain. Flora's continuing with her mission to rebuild Linphea, but is becoming paranoid that one day she'll become like her father. Also, things with Helia are moving a little too slowly. Meanwhile, it's not so long before a certain someone is released from the prison of Solaria.
1. Chapter 1

**(Trumpet noises**) I am proud to present the sequel to Beauty From Pain! I know it's been a while since I finished it, so you may want to remind yourselves of what actually happens…

Also, I am not so proud to present that I will not be continuing with either LOLITA or VOICE. That was back when I couldn't get much right, and not even I have any desire even know how they turn out myself.

I'm really sorry if you wanted to continue reading them, but I give my full permission for anyone to adopt them and continue the tale, then by all means go for it. (as long as you give me credit!)

On a more pleasant note, here's the sequel!

**Weight of the World**

"_WHAT IS IT?!" an angry, overworked and tired queen Flora yelled from what was now her office. All it took was a gentle knock to throw her over the edge._

"_Flora, it's me," Helia opened the door cautiously and slowly entered the room, softly clicking the door shut again behind himself._

"_What do you want?" she said in a harsh tone._

"_I want to talk to you," he began gently, "Ever since you've become Queen, you have really changed. You never come out of this room, you treat the staff horribly and the kingdom is loosing more money than it was before, don't pretend it's not true."_

"_What of it?" she hissed._

"_I'm leaving, I'm going back home with Cira and I'm never coming back. Goodbye Flora." He said seriously. He was about to turn his back on her for the final time when he heard a shrill laugh come out of her._

"_I can't believe you think it's going to be that easy to leave!" she chortled. "You've been here for six years now, you can't just leave!"_

"_You told me I could yourself, exactly a year ago, the day you became Queen." Said Helia, "I thought that was going to be the best day of my life, but we're even worse off than before. I can't believe I ever thought you were different to your father."_

Flora woke up breathing heavily.

"Not that dream again!" she whimpered into the darkness. That dream contained all of her biggest fears. The fear of being a terrible leader to her people, the fear of being like her father, but most of all, the fear that Helia would leave her.

She switched on her bedside lamp and looked at her clock. It was only ten to six in the morning, but she had a lot of work to do.

She climbed out of her bed and admired her new wardrobe- full of a variety of different gowns, jeans, shirts, tops, flats, dresses and skirts. She updated everything on a shopping spree courtesy of Princess Stella of Solaria. She picked out a silk skirt with a dropped hem at the back, with a plain printed tee. She felt so much lighter, not having to wear a heavy ball gown all the time!

Prince Elliot still haunted her thoughts. He was sentenced to only three years in the prison of Solaria, and one of them was already up. Seeing as he was royalty, there was a high chance that he'd be able to wheedle himself out at an earlier date. Stella kept telling her not to worry about it. And she was right; she still had the whole 'saving Linphea' thing on her plate, she didn't have time to worry about the prince.

As for Helia, things had been moving slowly. They both knew that they had bigger things to deal with, and their relationship had to wait. This saddened Flora though. She never got to have Helia all to herself, and nothing could really ever be described as 'romantic'. She loved Helia, but she wanted to feel something again, like a rush of excitement, or a moment of lust. At the moment it was just impossible.

She knew all too well that Helia wanted to go home and see his parents, tell them about everything that had happened, what her plans for Linphea were and that things were going to get a lot better. She could see that he was getting more and more anxious to leave as the days went by. Maybe he was paranoid that his parents had forgotten him. Maybe he had finally had enough.

Flora badly wanted him to stay right by her side, but who was she to stop him from going home? If anything, she encouraged it, but she just didn't want him to leave for good.

Cira was doing well; she had never received a proper education and was being sent to school. She had a lot of catching up to do, and it was hard work for a ten year old, but it was clear that she enjoyed going to learn, meeting new friends and telling them about her past. She was less enthusiastic about going back home, only because she had next to no memories of her parents, but she did still want to go.

"Oh, good morning Miss Flora," one of the maids who had decided to stay greeted as she passed the princess on the way to her early morning duties.

"Good morning," Flora replied sleepily.

"Did you have pleasant dreams?" she asked politely. Flora had to think about her answer.

"Not as pleasant as I would have liked," It was important that she kept a strong front. She was leading the nation, after all.

"That's a shame, I hope you sleep better tomorrow. I must be on my way now, goodbye, princess," the maid walked away briskly.

"Breakfast time me thinks…" Flora said quietly as she walked away in the opposite direction. On her way downstairs, as she often did if she was up this early, she carefully opened the door to Helia's bedroom, just to watch him be peaceful for a couple of minutes.

The sun was streaming in through the sheer curtains, giving the room a faint morning glow. Helia was sprawled out across his bed, with his hair covering his face. The duvet was halfway down his body, showing that he had decided to sleep without a shirt that night. Who was Flora to complain?

She tiptoed towards his bed and gently sat down next to his head, stroking the free pieces of hair out of his handsome face. He started to stir a little, making Flora giggle.

"Good morning sweetie," she whispered quietly.

"Flora?" he replied sleepily, turning around to confirm his suspicion, "Oh good morning, I… Sorry… I…"

"Quiet, you don't want to wake anyone up, do you?" she said softly, placing a finger on his lips.

"Well… No," he laughed quietly. Flora moved her hands down to his strong shoulders and started to rub gently. "Well this is a nice way to wake up…"

"Well I should hope so, because this kind of wake up only comes at a price,"

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" he smirked. Flora did nothing but smile, then after a brief pause of anticipation, pulled him in for a good morning kiss.

While everything was slowly getting better for Linphea, somewhere else in the world, being locked away gave you time to think.

~ _A/N ~_

_BOOM SHAKALAKA. Okay, I haven't decided on a length for these chapters yet, I always prefer long chapters, and I know you readers probably do too, but it's going to have to depend on where a good point to end the chapter is…_

_Hope you liked it! Review please!_


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the reviews so far!

**Weight of the World**

Helia pulled on the most casual of casual, jeans and a plain white tee. He didn't need to look presentable, or stand up straight all the time anymore. Like Flora, he was enjoying the new informalities that were brought into the palace. Everyone, including some staff, were now calling Flora by her nickname 'Flo', which was first established by princess Musa of Melody.

He also thought that things weren't moving as smoothly as they should by in his relationship with Flora. True, it was a Linphean tradition that the boy should always lead the relationship, but Helia was feeling a little shy seeing as Flora was the queen of Linphea. He badly wanted to actually show his love for her, but he felt he couldn't do it without undermining her somehow. If he actually went as far as to one day propose to her, would she think that he was doing it only to become king? He didn't want to ever be even compared to the likes of prince Elliot.

These were the things, which were stopping him from being the one to speed things up, and make them more exciting.

He had been trying to help Flora out as much as he could over the past year. It was a little much for a nineteen year old to have the whole weight on her shoulders.

He felt that as of late Flora had not been herself. Ever since she dramatically announced that the king's will had been mysteriously destroyed, she was bursting with energy, happy all the time and kind to everyone. She was still kind of course, but Helia felt that everything was starting to get to her.

At the end of the day, help would give Flora a serious boost.

But how should he offer it?

He tied the laces on his sneakers and walked out of his room, not needing to worry about making his bed like he used to have to. His thoughts led him from Flora to the dreadful Prince Elliot. He could help his face turning a little stony whenever he thought about him.

"_Boy, stop undressing her with your eyes!" _was one of the first things that he ever said to Helia. It made him want to vomit at the time, treating a girl he had only known for less than twenty-four hours like his very own object. Sometimes Helia went a little too far to not remind Flora of Prince Elliot, and had to keep reminding himself that he didn't need too. Flora told him that herself, after her 'wedding'.

_Once Flora and Helia got home from Vallisto, they headed straight up to Flora's bedroom where she tore off the wedding dress and put her nightgown on._

"_It's a beautiful dress," Flora began as she walked out from behind the screen, pulling the white fabric roses and hairpins out of her hair, "But I wish it didn't have to represent one of the worst days of my life." She sighed. Helia was sitting on the edge of her bed staring directly at the floor below him. The phrase 'She likes me?' circling his mind. 'She likes me? ME?'_

"_Are you okay?" Flora asked, taking a seat next to him. "It's been a long day, I know…" she smiled gently. Helia shook his head slightly and forced himself to look at her._

"_You love me?" he said instead of just thinking the words, "But… How?"_

"_What do you mean?" she asking, tilting her head to one side._

"_ME?" he emphasized. Flora giggled slightly. "Flora, ever since I first heard you SPEAK, I knew I had strong feelings for you, but I never in a million years imagined that you could return them. We're from opposite ends of the social scale, and I've been picking up after your father for a large fraction of my life, and I-," Flora stopped Helia from saying anything further by putting a finger to his lips._

"_No one can control who they fall in love with." She began, "But guess what? If I could choose, it would still be you." She smiled._

"_But… Why?"_

"_Helia, I'm not going to spell it out for you." She sighed, "Tell me how you feel about me."_

"_I love you." He replied bluntly._

"_I love you in the same way you love me, are we on the same page now?"_

"_I suppose so…" he said quietly. Flora gave him a light kiss on the lips then wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders._

"_I fell in love with you, so just stay 'you' for me, okay?"_

Helia smiled fondly at the memory. He walked down the stairs and stood in the doorway of the palaces' kitchen, staring longingly at Flora while she was making her breakfast. He loved her more than anything in the world (although he could never choose between her and his little sister), but he still felt like he was below her, and needed to call her by her full title, get her drinks and take her orders for meals. Regardless, he fully entered the room, sneaking up behind Flora and wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey beautiful," he whispered in her ear.

"Helia…" she breathed, "H-hi," she blushed a little.

"Do you want some help?" he asked politely. Flora smirked.

"I'm okay with making a bowl of cereal Helia, I can manage," she laughed. "Would you like some,"

"I… Err…" he didn't know how to respond. Should he let her do anything for him?

"I'll take that as a yes," she sighed, taking a hint to what was going on. Once she had prepared the cereal she handed him a bowl and they both sat down at the table in the kitchen, where the chef used to eat before he left the palace. "Helia, you do realise that you don't work here anymore, don't you?" Flora asked as she began to awkwardly poke at her food.

"Of course I do, but it's a hard habit to get out of…"

"Helia, it's already been a year. I want you to kick back and do what you want, I don't want to catch you straightening pictures or making my bed or anything like that, unless it's what you want to do." She retorted. "What do you want to do?"

"Flora, I can't just-,"

"Helia, just tell me!"

"I want to help you run the kingdom." He said firmly. It had to come out some time. Flora stared at him for a moment, and then blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry if that reminded you too much of Elliot but-,"

"Please," Flora scoffed, 'He would have never used the word 'help',"

"Well, what do you say?" he asked with hope in his voice.

"Helia, are you sure? It's a lot of work and… well; I could definitely use the help, I mean, things have been piling up lately, and I have to hire a team of politicians and start the vote for a new prime minister and… Okay, yes, I would be really happy if you helped me out."

"I'm glad, you weren't reaching out to anyone, sometimes it's kind of difficult to tell what you're thinking…" he smiled slightly, munching a spoonful of cereal.

"Helia, when are you going home?" Flora asked bluntly, making Helia stop completely. He stared at her for a moment.

"You mean… You want me to…?"

"What? No, no! Of course not! It's just that your parents may have been worrying about you and Cira for so long, you need to let them know you're okay."

"I can't just leave-,"

"You won't be! You can come back and help, like you said!" Flora said enthusiastically. "I just wish I could be there when you get reunited," she beamed gleefully.

"… Well, why don't you?" Helia pondered.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You could come meet my parents, and we can tell them about everything together, how about it?" he asked, getting more enthusiastic about the idea by the second.

"Oh, I couldn't," Flora told him gently, "I really wouldn't want to intrude, this is your business, not mine,"

"Well, I'm not going either then." He said, folding his arms firmly. "Not unless you come too."

"Alright!" Flora smiled, "I'll go,"

~ _A/N ~_

_Yeah, I haven't actually gotten into the actual plot yet, so PATIENCE CHILDREN. (cough)_

_Review please!_


	3. Chapter 3

I just watched episode 4 of Season 5, and FLORA HAS A LOVE RIVAL! I'm SO happy! And the mystery as to whether Flora is actually a princess or not has finally been solved! Also, on Winx Wiki Flora's page has been moved from a grade B to a Grade A!

(She will obviously stay the princess of Linphea for this story though…)

**Weight of the World**

"I can't believe this is actually happening." Helia said quietly to himself, standing in the grand doorway of the palace. "I can barely even remember where I used to live."

Flora had just finished describing the situation to her personal chauffer, and was walking over to Helia with a warm smile and something behind her back.

"Excited?" she asked. Helia nodded.

"A little nervous too," he sighed, "What if my parents don't remember me?"

"Aw Helia!" Flora giggled, "You were their son for fourteen years, how could they forget you?"

"But what about Cira? She's been a slave in the palace for longer than she lived at home." He said sadly. Flora gave him a guilty look then folded her arms tightly around her chest. "Oh! Sorry, did I say slave? I meant… Servant, or whatever we were… Sorry,"

"Helia… I never thought of you like that." She said sadly, "You know I didn't,"

"I know, I wasn't thinking of you though, I was thinking of-," Helia tried to continue, but was cut off by Flora's rare cold stare.

"Don't say their names." She said quietly and seriously. It took her a couple of moments to realise that her father had once said a similar thing, telling her not to mention her mother. Maybe that was a trait she couldn't help but share with him, a cold shoulder to the death of a 'loved one'.

Flora wouldn't have described herself as having a 'close father and daughter bond' with him, but before her mother died things were a lot better and happier for the royal family. They were all happily anticipating the birth of little baby Rose, but when there were complications with the birth and her mother died, the king gave the cold shoulder to them all. Pretending Rose didn't exist, and trying his best to make Flora feel as useless as possible.

Flora didn't want to be the cover girl for Linphea anymore.

Of course, it still made Flora nervous when her father was mentioned. She was the murderer after all, and it was something that would plague her for the rest of her life.

"Helia, Flora? What's going on?" Cira walked cautiously through the gates, wearing her dark green school uniform and clutching her brown school satchel. Helia looked at Flora, then back to Cira with a small smile.

"Flora and I decided that it's been long enough, and you and I should go and tell our parents that we're doing fine,"

"Really?" Cira asked, showing a little surprise.

"And we also thought that maybe you should stay at home, you need to know your parents as… well, your parents." Helia told her. She looked down sadly.

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm going to stay here and help Flora with things, she can't do it all by herself,"

"But you can come back and visit or stay over whenever you want! Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week!" said Flora, before Cira got too upset.

"I don't even remember mum and dad."

"They have photos of you, and all your old toys. You can still go to the same school, come visit the palace whenever…"

"Alright, it's a bit much to take in though,"

"I understand." Helia smiled then embraced his younger sister in a tight hug. Flora beamed at the two of them.

"I have something that might surprise you," she began, revealing what she had behind her back, "Here." She gave both Helia and Cira a small parcel the size of an A4 sheet of paper, but thick enough to hold something else as well. "I was searching through the filing cabinets, and I managed to find your records, as well as the clothes you came in. I don't think these envelopes have been opened since you arrived here!"

Helia looked down at his parcel with hesitancy, opening it would be like opening old wounds. He turned it over to tamper with the seal, when he frowned slightly.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "This looks like it's been opened pretty recently," Flora frowned and Cira looked at her own package, tearing away the tape.

"Mine's been sealed with duck tape."

"Isn't that meant to be 'duct' tape?" Flora asked.

"It can be both!" she defended, "Ducks are fluffy,"

Cira pulled out her documents and read briskly. It read:

Name: Cira Jasmine Knightly

Age of detainment: Four

Address: 14 Tea Garden Lane, Greenfield, Linphea

Gender: Female

Reason for detainment within the palace: inapplicable.

"Why is the reason inapplicable?" she asked.

"Mum didn't want it on records, she can get really feisty with this kind of thing." He said a little too quickly. He started to slowly pull out his own documents. He peered at them then gave a loud sigh, followed by a smirk.

"What?" Flora asked gently. Helia held up the piece of paper to her face.

"Your doing?" he asked with a smile. Flora took the paper out of his hands and saw that all the existing information had been lightly crossed out (though it was still legible) and replaced with colourful scrawls. It read:

Name: CUTE SERVANT BOY

Age of detainment: NOT TOTALLY SURE ON THAT ONE

Address: CUTIE-VILLE

Gender: HE IS A MAAAN.

Reason for detainment within the palace: HE WAS WALKING DOWN THE ROAD ONE DAY WHEN HE WALKED INTO A LAMP POST AND THE LAMP POST FELL ON A PALACE GUARDS HEAD. ANOTHER PALACE GUARD CAME OUT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND THEN HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HIM CUZ HE WAS SO HOT AND THAT'S WHY HE'S HERE.

TOTALLY WRITTEN BY THE OFFICIAL PRINCESS STELLA, WHOOPS, I MEANT FLORA XXX.

Flora stared at it for a couple of moments, and then looked back up to Helia who was about to fall into pits of laughter.

"This is why I don't leave the girls alone in my home anymore." She rolled her eyes.

"Your friends are literally insane," he laughed, "At least it took the edge off," his face changed again when he pulled out the white shirt and green shorts he was wearing the day he was taken to the palace. "I guess these are a little small for me now,"

"I guess this is a little pink for me now," they averted their gaze to Cira who was holding up a tiny pink floral dress in disgust. "Who on earth put me in this?"

"Oh come on," Helia smiled, "You were adorable in it!" Cira looked at him with distrust. "Here- you see these paints stains?" he took the dress from her grasp and pointed to some yellow and blue smudges, "That was when you got into my paint set, I was so mad at you!" he laughed at the memory, Cira smiled a little.

"So. Shall we?" Flora gestured towards the black car. She got into the front seat while Helia and Cira sat in the back.

The engine started loudly and they drove out of the palace gates, staring back at the palace. Helia looked at his hands then down at the leather of the car. He examined the leather closely and saw that there were fingernail marks down at his side.

"… This is the same car, isn't it?" Helia said calmly. Both Cira and Flora looked at him, and the driver even gave him a glance through the mirror.

"Helia, what are you talking about?" asked Flora.

"I remember being so terrified on the way here that I almost scratched right through the leather on these seats."

"You mean… This really is the same car?" Cira asked, taking note of exactly where she was, "And that means that we're sitting in the same places we were on the way here. This is the biggest coincidence of the century."

"I'll say," Helia added. He looked back at Flora, who was still staring at him.

"So this is really it?" Flora asked in awe. "I still can't believe you volunteered for th-," Helia's eyes widened and he stopped her mid-sentence. He looked worriedly at Cira who was staring back at him.

"You volunteered for this?"

"I, err…"

"Helia, you told me that you got caught stealing food from the supermarket and influenced me to do the same. You volunteered?"

"Look Cira, I'm sorry, I didn't really want you to know about how we wound up in the palace."

"Why Helia?"

"Because you would have found the truth so frustrating, I just didn't want to say."

"Well, say now." Cira said firmly. Helia gave her a pleading look; this leap into the past had gone too far. "Now." She said again.

"It was just a stupid pointless law that the king put in place to gain more free help around the castle. It was just going to be you who was going to be taken to the palace, but I asked if I could come to, so we could stay together." He explained. After a moment of silence, Cira grabbed his shoulders.

"Why did you do that?!" she exclaimed.

"Cira, calm down,"

"You were there for so long and you didn't even know if you would ever come out again! Why would you do that for me?!"

"You were only four! I couldn't let you go alone! I was panicking, and I needed to do something!" He sighed in order to lower his voice, "Besides… If I hadn't gone, then I would never have met Flora." Flora immedietly turned around to hide the blush forming on her cheeks. "Some good came out of it for me, and I can't really say for you but… It's over now. It's finally over, and we came out the other end so much stronger than we were before,"

"Helia, you owe me. You were lying to me for six years." She huffed, but was smiling a little.

"Tea Garden Lane…" Flora read as they drove past the road sign, "We're almost there, are you guys ready?"

"Don't really have a choice. I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now." Helia scratched the back of his neck, and looked at Cira who was staring out of the window.

The car came to a halt directly outside house number fourteen. They all clambered out and stared down the driveway. All the curtains were shut, and the front garden looked bare and neglected.

"Maybe no-one's home?" Cira wondered. They all walked forward and tried looking through the frosted glass on the front door. It was very dark inside, they couldn't see anything. Helia knocked loudly on the front door.

"HELLO?" He called, "MR AND MRS KNIGHTLY?" There was no response.

"Is there a way in around the back?" Flora asked, peering around the side of the house. Helia knocked again.

"HELLO?" he called. There was movement coming from the inside, making Helia feel like he was choking on his heart. Flora took his hand to try and calm him down. There was a sudden angry voice as the door started to rattle.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT THIS TIME?! WE DON'T KNOW WHO YOU-," A tall, balding man stopped shouting when he saw the three of them standing on his doorstep. He looked confused for a moment. "I apologise for that, we keep getting some strange visits and were hoping that if we made it seem as though we were out they wouldn't knock… Excuse me, anyway. Who are you?" Helia looked down at Cira, then at Flora. Flora nodded at him, a glint of anticipation in her eyes. Helia still wasn't saying anything.

"Do you mind if we talk about this inside? With you and your wife," Flora said soothingly, clasping her hand around Helia's. "It's really very important,"

"Well, I have no reason to keep you out," He shrugged and invited them inside and shut the door. He turned on the lights and went to the foot of the staircase. "Laurel!" he called, "Laurel! We have some guests!"

"Joshua, It's not that creepy guy again, is it?" said a woman, coming down the stairs.

"No… It's… Well, I'm not sure yet." He laughed, "We'll find out, I suppose. Do sit down," he told the three of them. Flora gladly accepted a chair, Cira hesitantly sat down, feeling small in the centre of it, and Helia took a couple of minutes to familiarise his surroundings. There was a shelf, full of photos of both Him and Cira when they were younger. It looked like a partial shrine for the death of a loved one.

Once everyone had been seated, with Flora, Helia and Cira on the opposite side of the table to the couple, they began to talk.

"So. What business do you have with us?" Helia's father asked in a warm tone. Flora looked at Helia to see if he was going to say anything, it didn't look like he was.

"There isn't a very easy way to explain this, so we're just going to have to do our best, is that okay?" said Flora, they nodded, both with confused looks on their faces.

Helia was wondering if they had recognised any of them. Flora's face was constantly being plastered all over the news, and Cira and himself were their own children. Had they really been that cut off from the world?

"My name is Flora, I'm the princess-queen-whatever-person of Linphea," she said sheepishly. The pair stood almost instantly to bow but Flora stopped them in their tracks, "Please don't do that,"

"Your highness, I'm sorry, I knew you looked familiar, but without your usual formal attire, I wasn't so sure." Laurel apologised, "Your highness, we actually have a question for you," she began.

"Just call me Flora,"

"Oh, okay, Flora," she gulped, "Our children were arrested and taken to your home a long time ago… And we just want to know how they're doing." Her voice started to crack.

"They did nothing in particular wrong, and I know it must take a while to search through all those records, and I know you have your own problems, but…" Joshua, their father began, when Laurel slapped her palms on the table, stood up and screamed at Flora.

"ARE MY BABIES ALIVE?! JUST TELL ME THAT! ARE THEY ALIVE?!"

"Laurel, please!" Joshua pulled her down and she began to cry.

"It's just been so long," she whispered into her hands. Helia began to tighten his grasp around Flora's hand. She looked at his face to see that he wasn't far from tears either. She looked at Cira who just looked generally concerned.

"Do you have anything to say?" she asked Helia softly.

"I… I don't…"

"Helia. You must have something to say." Flora said clearly, giving Helia's hand another tight squeeze.

"Helia?" Laurel asked, sounding a little alarmed. She turned her attention to Cira. "Cira?" Cira gave her mother a small nod. "Oh my goodness," she said quietly. "OH MY GOODNESS!" Laurel didn't even bother walking around the table, instead she climbed right on top of the table and put her arms around her two children from there.

"Helia! My little hero you… Your hair is so long! Aren't you going to cut it? What if some poor man mistakes you for a girl?"

"Mum!" Helia moaned, but still letting a couple of happy tears flow, "You never liked it short either…"

"And Cira! You were only four when you left… You probably don't even remember me,"

"I have some still images in my head which I could never really place, but that's about it I'm afraid," Cira said sadly, "I wish I could remember you, but I just…"

"Cira… We've got a lot of catching up to do," Laurel smiled, "All in good time," she finally looked back at Flora who had her hands clasped underneath her chin from the warm reunion.

"COME HERE YOU!" Laurel yelled as she tackled Flora to the ground, "I can't believe this, there's just so much to take in right now! Come on! Flora, take a seat again, tell us everything!"

"Well, we should probably start with the fact that I won't be staying." Helia sighed. His mother and father's faces dropped. "Cira will be, but… I offered to help Flora with some things at the palace because it's a lot of work for just one girl."

"HE'S NOT TELLING THE WHOLE STORY." Cira stated loudly, earning a death-glare from Helia. "There's another reason he decided to stay at the palace!"

"Cira, I'm warning you!" he hissed.

"He wants to stay close to his giiiiiiiiirrrllllfrrriiiieen nnddd!" Cira cooed. Flora looked down and Helia put his head in his hands.

"Oh for goodness sake Cira…"

"I told you in the car that you owe me," Cira shrugged.

"You have a girlfriend?" Laurel asked excitedly, "What's her name? Is she pretty?"

"Well, she… I… We…" Helia looked at Flora.

"I'll give you three guesses as to who it is!" Cira exclaimed.

"Ooh! Okay!" Laurel replied enthusiastically, "I don't know anyone by name though,"

"That's cool!"

"Okay, is it another maid?" Laurel asked. Cira shook her head vigorously.

"Nope, way off!"

"Is it one of his childhood friends?"

"No!"

"Errm… Is it someone who lives outside of Linphea?"

"No! IT'S FLORA!" Cira exclaimed excitedly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Weight of the World**

"It's FLORA!"

Laurel and Joshua were silent for a moment. They looked at Cira, who was beaming proudly, then they looked to Helia who was still giving Cira a death glare, and then at Flora, who was confirming Cira's proclamation by blushing a deep shade of red.

"Seriously?" Laurel asked.

"Yeah, seriously," Helia replied, holding Flora's hand under the table.

"How on earth could that possible happen? Were you even allowed to speak to each other?" Joshua asked, amazed.

"He was the only guy I had ever met who treated me like a human being." Flora began, to Helia's surprise. "So we became friends, maybe broke a couple of my father's rules, there was some major drama and I was about to get married when some other stuff happened, and then Helia and I started dating."

There was another moment of silence, but then Laurel stood up and slapped Helia around the face.

"I LAST KNEW YOU AS AN INNOCENT LITTLE BOY!" she exclaimed, "I LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR SIX YEARS AND NOW YOU'RE DATING THE QUEEN OF LINPHEA?!"

"MUM!" He yelled back, "I'm twenty years old now! I'm not fourteen anymore,"

"I know, I know…" she said, calming back down again. "It's been so long, and I knew you'd grow up but… Helia, you have nothing. Flora, he can't be beneficial to you in any way. He doesn't have any proper qualifications, he has no money…"

"I have a lot of money, why would I want to use his money? And I know he's smart. I love him and I would like to stay with him, if you don't mind," said Flora. Laurel smiled slightly and closed her eyes.

"You're not like your father, are you?" she said calmly. Flora froze up a little at the mention of his name, but nodded.

"If it ever came to that, I'd step down from the throne immedietly,"

"Flora, you're not like that and never will be." Helia said while rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.

"I hope you're right,"

"I am right," he smiled.

"So, you really love Helia? You? YOU really love Helia? You as in the Queen of Linphea? And Helia as in my son from our average family? You really actually are physically literally in love with my son?" Joshua said in disbelief.

"Yes!" Flora exclaimed.

"I still can't believe this."

"OH MY GOODNESS. I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL SARAH." Laurel exclaimed, with a sly look on her face.

"Who's Sarah?" Flora and Cira asked simultaneously.

"Sarah? Sarah Harling?" Helia laughed, "Is she still driving you up the wall?" Laurel laughed back.

"Yes! You remember James? Her son, he was in your class? He's a doctor now and I didn't think I'd ever here the end of it! Until now! When she here's that my son is dating the Queen of Linphea she'll NEVER BRAG AGAIN!"

"James Harling? A doctor? Are you kidding? He used to eat his pencils!"

"I know, weird, isn't it?"

"It's such a shame I couldn't actually finish school," Helia said wistfully.

"I didn't either," Flora stated sadly.

"Really?" Laurel asked, quite surprised.

"Well, when my mother died my father decided that he didn't want me to leave the palace walls, so I was home schooled by the service director, apparently it saved on funds."

"The service director?" Helia asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Griselda."

"Right," Helia swallowed.

"Who's Griselda?" asked Joshua.

"… The service director," Helia replied.

"No no no," Joshua laughed, "I mean, who is she to you?"

"Oh, she was the one who ordered everyone around. Woke us up in the morning, assigned rooms for us to clean or people for us to wait on… That kind of thing."

"Was she nice?" Laurel asked hopefully. Helia, Cira and Flora burst out laughing. After wiping away a tear, Helia answered:

"Nope."

"Oh,"

"I'm sorry to say that they were both treated horribly during their stay at the palace," said Flora, "I had no say in how they were treated,'

"But you were the princess!" Laurel exclaimed, shaken by the environment that her children had been exposed to, "Surely you could have said something to sway the kings mind!"

"She had no power, mum. Her father had sorted out her future, and that future was even bleaker than my reality." Said Helia.

"Oh dear…" Laurel said sympathetically.

"So, how have things been around here?" Helia said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Well, just look around," Joshua said sadly. They observed the house: it was a mess. The blinds were down and the curtains were shut, and the cleaning looked like it had been done in the dark. "We've been having some threatening visits for a few days now,"

"I just want it to stop," Laurel said quietly.

"Who is it?" Cira asked worriedly.

"We don't know," Joshua sighed.

"What do they look like?"

"It's a 'he'. He always looks grand, wearing a white and gold themed suit. He has white hair which is always slicked back and very cold eyes." Laurel described. Flora froze up.

"It can't be…" She stood up without warning, "It's only been a year,"

"Flora, what are you talking about?" Helia asked, not making the connection himself.

"What did he say?" Flora asked the couple, putting her palms on the table.

"Well, he doesn't usually say anything. He just stares at us through the windows, or knocks on the door just to stare at us some more. We called the police, and they came once, but refused to help once they had actually spoken to this man." Laurel explained, "They only thing he ever said to us was yesterday, and he told us to 'watch out'."

"Oh my goodness." Flora squeaked. Helia still didn't get it.

"Flora, what's wrong?" Helia looked up at her, "Do you think you know him?"

"Don't you?!" Flora exclaimed, "Helia, it's Elliot! He's out of jail!" Flora fell back into her chair, "What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"Wait a minute, who's Elliot?" asked Cira. Flora and Helia stared at her.

"He was the man who tried to have you killed just to get at me," Helia told her; astounded that she had never gotten to know his name.

"NOT HIM!" She exclaimed.

"HE TRIED TO HAVE MY BABY KILLED?!" Laurel exclaimed, running up to Cira and holding her protectively, "What on earth has been going on?!"

"Prince Elliot of Vallisto is the one who keeps coming here," Flora sighed.

"When Flora and I first spoke to each other, we ended up spending a lot of time together. Prince Elliot was Flora's fiancé, and wanted to break me, just to get me out of the way… So he stole the priceless anklet Flora's mother gave her and planted it in Cira's room." Helia explained.

"He probably would have planted it in Helia's room, but I would have never believed that he had taken it. I never really believed that Cira had taken it, but Griselda was there and reported it to my father. I never wanted anyone to end up being sentenced either." Said Flora.

"But on the day of the execution, the king died and the will had been destroyed, so Flora was made queen, and immedietly called off all the charges made against Cira," Helia smiled.

"Yay Flora!" Cira exclaimed happily.

"And this man is terrorising us because of this?" Joshua asked.

"I guess so, I'm sorry, I didn't know," Flora said as she pulled out her phone, "One moment please," she dialled the number of the head of the royal guard and put the phone to her ear.

"Hi Peter, it's me… Yes, I'm fine… Listen, I want to have Tea Garden Lane put under constant patrol… It's Prince Elliot… Tell police around the nation to keep a look out and arrest him on sight… If he makes any trouble, shoot without hesitation… Thank you, goodbye," Flora put her phone down.

"And that's how simple it is for royalty to get people to do something," Laurel sighed, "I wish it were that simple for us,"

"Well, I'll do what I can to make things better around here!" Flora beamed.

"What do you think you'll do first? Now the palace has been sorted out?" Joshua asked.

I think that the first thing I need to do is sort out the economy. I want to start over with a new currency, but I don't want anyone to loose their savings because of that." Said Flora.

Flora's phone started to ring again, but with the customised ringtone of 'Walking on sunshine'.

"Oh, that must be Stella," Flora picked up her phone again, "Hello, Stella? Stella! Calm down, what's wrong? Oh my goodness. Oh no, Stella, are you all right? Do you need help? WHERE ARE YOU? STELLA?!" There was a loud beep coming from the phone and Flora lowered it slowly. "Solaria's at war." Flora said weakly. "With Vallisto."

_~A/N~_

_So, what is Prince Elliot plotting this time? Patience and you will see!_

_Thank you for reading the chapter, hope you liked it! I was able to do some frequent updating over this weekend with this story but school is wearing me out :/ I'll update as soon as I can though!_

_Please review! Lurve you guys!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Weight of the World**

"DADDY!" Princess Stella exclaimed as a Vallisto warrior threw her father to the floor. "YOU!" She addressed the man, "STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW! GET OUT OF OUR HOME YOU TOTALLY HORRIBLE NASTY LITTLE CREEP!" She yelled, throwing a lamp at him. There was no one on the planet that didn't obey Stella- she was the most intimidating person you could ever meet. The warrior still didn't move, but stared at her hungrily at her through his darkened visor. It took Stella a couple of moments to realise that his thoughts at that moment may have been impure. "DON'T YOU DARE EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" She through a vase at him this time, making him run out of the palace as fast as his legs could carry him. Stella huffed angrily, and then ran over to her father, rolling him on to his back, "Daddy? Daddy, can you hear me?" she asked desperately. He coughed and wheezed, then looked at Stella warmly.

"I'll be fine, just make sure that one of the Solaria guards see's to it that I don't move," he wheezed, "And stop destroying all the antiques, this isn't the first time I've told you,"

"Sorry daddy," she said quietly, fighting back a smirk, "I called Flora, I'm hoping she can send some reinforcements,"

"That would be nice," he said weakly, "Stella, why are we at war with Vallisto?"

"I think it's because we arrested their prince,"

"We did? How come I didn't know about this?"

"It's this whole… crazy thing…" Stella muttered, flapping her wrist in her father's direction, "All you have to know is that he deserved it, and it has something to do with Linphea,"

"… I see…" he said, "No, actually I don't follow,"

"It doesn't matter right now!" Stella exclaimed. "We need all the help we can get!"

~.~.~

"Helia, we've got to go to Solaria and we've got to go now!" Flora said worriedly as she stood up and collected her things, then looked anxiously at the door..

"Right," Helia said as firmly as he could, but was not able to hold back some sadness in his voice.

"Goodbye Mr and Mrs Knightly; it was… It was incredible to meet you…" Flora told them wistfully as she got her phone back out and dialled the Linphean armed forces. "You all need to get to Solaria, right now…"

"Mum, dad, I…" Helia began, but then sighed. "I don't know what to say. I don't want to have to say goodbye to you again,"

"It won't be for long!" Laurel insisted, grabbing one of Helia's hands. "You have no idea how proud of you I am. Volunteering to be some kind of slave at the palace, practically bringing up Cira on your own… And now dating the queen of Linphea! I never thought a son of mine could turn out to be so incredible,"

"I'm proud of you too son," Joshua patted Helia on the shoulder. Helia gave him a small smile.

Before Helia was taken to the palace of Linphea, Helia had not actually had the best of relationships with his father. Compared to the king and Flora, they were the closest that a father and son could be, but unfortunately that wasn't saying much.

For starters, Joshua had always wanted a daughter. 'If I had a daughter, I would have spoilt her rotten,' was something he tended to say a lot before Cira was born. Joshua had never expected that his own son would have no particular interest in watching the latest sports or going to military museums, and would much rather sit in the back garden painting and drawing, or spend the late hours writing up some new poetry by torch light in his bedroom. 'You can't blame him for being a sensitive boy, I think he'll grow up to be a fine you man,' Laurel would always tell Joshua, but Joshua would always grumble back, 'As long as he's not bullied for being a woss.'

Helia had never in fact been bullied at school. In fact, once he got out of his pre-teens, a lot of girls were astounded by his artistic ability and hung around him constantly, while the other boys always wanted him on their sports team because, although he never really cared for it, he still got the sporty gene from his father.

He got great effort and academic grades, bucket loads of praise from his teachers and was always described as a 'charming young man,'. Despite all of this, Joshua had never bothered to get to know Helia as well as his mother, so that put a strain on their relation when he got older.

Hearing his father say that he was proud of him took Helia by surprise. At first he was happy; he had tried and tried again to make his father happy, but nothing ever seemed to be enough. He was happy that he was finally acknowledged by his father as a good person.

But then, Helia became sceptical. It took five years of hard labour, doing everything he could to protect his sister and developing feelings for the princess to get a simple pat on the shoulder from him.

Not knowing what he was about to do, subconsciously, Helia returned the pat on the shoulder.

"And it only took twenty years for you to say that," he said, much to the surprise of his parents. "Flora, let's go," he said before they could respond.

"Oh, err, right," Flora opened the door, "Goodbye Cira, I'll see you soon!" she gave Cira a final hug then ran out of the door, "Goodbye everyone!"

"Helia, I really don't know what I'm going to do without you!" Cira yelled as she held her brother tightly.

"You'll adjust; you don't need me," He laughed.

"But I really do!" she sighed, making herself give in, "Come see me STRAIGHT after you've finished at Solaria!"

"Of course," he said, "Goodbye everyone!"

~.~.~

Flora's private jet promptly landed on the private landing pad in Stella's palace courtyard. From the air it was clear to see the damage that had already been done. Smoke was rising from tall buildings in the city centre, and people were running around everywhere. Vallisto's army was huge and managed to outnumber the army Solaria had by far.

Flora jumped out of the jet, shortly followed by Helia, and ran to Stella who had seen the jet arriving and was waiting anxiously by the main doors.

"FLORA! HELIA! THANK GOODNESS IT'S YOU!" She yelled at the top of her voice as she tackled the both of them to the ground, "I thought for sure that it was another load of those Vallisto fighters!"

"Stella thank goodness you're safe! We've brought reinforcements- they're on their way and will be here very soon," Flora explained as Helia pulled her up again.

"Musa's on her way with Melody's army. I hope that'll be enough, they seem to go on forever!" Stella moaned.

"I don't understand what they're fighting for," Helia stated. Flora and Stella looked at him.

"What do you mean?" asked Stella, "We arrested their prince, that's got to be the reason,"

"But they have their precious prince back, why would they just start a pointless war to show Solaria what's what?"

"Not to show Solaria what's what," said a voice coming from behind them all, "To show Flora what's what," Prince Elliot walked out in front of them all with a disgusting grin on his face.

"Elliot." Flora hissed. He just laughed.

"We've discussed this dear," he sneered, "You are to call me 'master'."

_~A/N~_

_OH OH OH IT LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE'S BACK ;)_

_Review please! Means a lot! (L)_


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